Do smallmouth eat sunfish, young suckers — or other bass?
All three, and all three are minor. Smallmouth forage skews small and slim — crayfish, gobies, shiners, young perch — and mostly under a quarter of the fish's own length, so deep-bodied, spiny sunfish are an awkward fit; they are eaten where weeds meet rock, but they never play the role bluegill play for largemouth. Young suckers, chubs and dace are river food: soft-rayed, cylinder-shaped and sharing the same riffles and pools, a regular find in stream fish and a rarity in lake fish. Cannibalism is real but small — fry and fingerlings of any bass, its own included, are taken when they are handy. None of these justifies a dedicated pattern; they simply explain why a small natural minnow profile works everywhere.
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